Defining Your Real Estate Niche

Preface: This was put together and dispersed amongst our team of real estate marketing professionals to help everyone become better consultants to our customers who consist of real estate agents, brokers and professionals. One of the hardest parts of our day to day jobs is not marketing their sites, driving traffic to their sites and blogs, converting visitors to leads or providing them the best possible ROI, but rather getting our clients to understand that they cannot be general anymore with their marketing efforts online and that they need a niche. I hope you enjoy this post no matter what profession you carry as it really applies to anyone looking to be successful online and offline. "I don’t know about success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone" – Bill Cosby To stave off any sarcastic comments, I don’t ever quote Bill Cosby in anything I write. It just so happened that he made an appearance at the NAR Conference in Las Vegas this year and happened to drop a very relevant quote to our business. As we all can attest to, many agents are reluctant to position themselves as specialists, for fear of limiting their earning potential. A broad range of potential customers is both a blessing and a curse for real estate agents. If an agent is a generalist, nearly everyone they meet might be a potential client. On the other hand, being all things to all people can lead to unfocused business plans, lackluster results, wasted resources and burn out. In reality, there is little risk in passing on commissions that they really don’t have a reasonable chance to earn. Few agents have the time and resources to market to a very broad audience, so choosing a professional niche in which they can excel and own makes sense. In addition to helping them differentiate their services from other real estate practitioners, we can help them build credibility and focused expertise in their areas. Better yet, as they develop a reputation for a specific area of expertise, they are actively reducing competition for their services and are able to focus their resources (time, money, effort) on their specialty. Now all that’s left is choosing a highly profitable niche. To help them get started, here are some suggestions for highly lucrative niches to recommend or use as examples, and also some to avoid: Advantageous Agent Specializations:– Townhomes – Historic properties – Vacation homes – Homes near top-rated schools – Upscale and luxury real estate – Equestrian properties – Income-producing properties – Waterfront or beachfront properties – Green or energy-efficient homes – Active retirement communities – Ranch or farm properties – Mountain views – Golf club / country club properties – International investment opportunities (UK buyers are huge right now) Disadvantageous Agent Specializations: – The over aggressive agent – The agent who laughs at all of your jokes even when something was not funny – Agent with obvious toupee – Agent still using high school yearbooks photo – Agent whose car always needs vacuuming – The too-much-perfume agent – The agent who talks incessantly about cats – The really irritable agent – Agent who also sells Amway and Herbalife – The agent who could use a shave – Agent with a comb-over – Agent who apparently doesn’t own an iron Some niches will consistently be better than others and there will always be those stubborn agents who think that their offline reputation is going to translate the same online so they refuse to specialize in something. The bottom line: Prospects today are not looking for a salesperson, they are looking for a trusted advisor to guide them through important financial decisions and complex transactions. This trusted advisor should come off as the most knowledgeable person in regards to what that prospect needs and wants. A great question to ask your clients is: “Does your professional niche brand you as a real estate expert, or someone who sells real estate?” “It’s better to be known for knowing something, not just selling something.”